College Can Be Murder
by SamaratinToSin
Summary: It's been 5 years. Five long, exhausting years. Now 22 year-old Rian Delmar has moved back to West Cove, an esteemed art scholarship fueling her dreams. A twisting roller coaster of events will lead her back to her once high-school sweetheart, Rico Schmidt. But years are years. Has time torn the former teammates apart? Sequel to High School Can Really Kill You
1. Chapter 1

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

The incessant alarm has aroused a man in his mid-twenties. He rolls over and hits the wall several times, shouting for his room mate to get her ass out of bed.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

He swears and scrambles out of bed, crossing the hall and kicking her door. "Rian Delmar, I swear," he glances at the clock and then the calender and back to the clock. "You're late for your first class."

He steps back from the door and slowly counts to three. Hearing something move on the other side of the door. It flies open and a girl with shoulder length dark brown hair races past him.

She sprints out the door, leaving it half open behind her. She presses the elevator button and when it doesn't arrive within 10 seconds, she takes off for the stairs. Four flights and she's on the ground level.

"Should have taken the fire escape." She mumbles as she runs through the lobby, glancing at the clock.

"Hey, Rian!"

She stops and looks back up at the open window to her apartment, "You forgot your sketchbook."

Her heart sinks. She doesn't have time to go back for it, but what if the professor asks for them?

"Rian Delmar?" the professor looks over his glasses and around the room, "I swear I met her at open house. Miss Delmar?"

She throws the door open and collapses to the cold ground, panting, "I'm here."

"I suggest you refrain from making a scene the next class period."

She bites her cheek and takes a seat in the back row.

He continues on with the roll call.

Five miles away, a three-year old girl is sneaking into her parent's room. "Daddy." She grabs the edge of the blanket, "Mommy says it's time to get up."

"Alright Madalyn." He yawns and sits up. The girl has her mother's hazel eyes and his black hair, with her own curls. He picks her up and sets her on the edge of the bed. "You are getting big."

She nods, "I eat all my vegetamlbes."

"That's good." He ruffles her hair, "Ready for our day?"

Madalyn grins, "Yeah! Play in the park!"

"Good girl." He grabs a shirt and glances in the mirror before pulling his shirt on. At one point, he had a six-pack of abs, that was before Madalyn was born.

She races out of the room in front of him, making airplane sounds. Marlene is at the stove, humming to herself. "Morning Skipper."

"Morning beautiful. What's on the agenda today?"

She puts a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Madalyn, "I've got three articles to finish and I planned on trying to photograph the park today."

"So we are on our own for dinner?"

She forces a sympathetic smile. "Is that alright?"

Skipper nods quickly, "Yeah, we'll go out to dinner and maybe the museum."

Madalyn scrunches up her nose, "Museums smell."

Skipper presses his finger to his lips, silencing the girl.

Marlene rolls her eyes, "Just promise that you'll be careful."

"Will do." He kisses her on the cheek and watches her bounce out the door, camera in tow.

He waits until he hears her car start in the driveway before looking at Madalyn, "Gummy bears for breakfast?"

"Yep." She pushes the plate away and marches to the living room. "Netflix, daddy."

He laughs and picks a show with baby animals for her before sitting back with his coffee. Madalyn DiMaggio is his whole world. The little dark haired girl with her love of animals and her bright smile.

28\. 29. 30. He pauses. Rico can feel the muscles in his arms burning. They shake under him but he has to get at least five more than yesterday. 31. 32. 3-3. He sinks to the floor, exhausted.

"Rico, are you coming?" Private shouts from the edge of the room. "8 am classes."

He sighs and rolls onto his back to stare at the ceiling. The light above is blinding, but he forces himself to look at it. Pushing himself up, he rolls both his shoulders around and spreads his hands out. They hurt. Hell. Everything hurts.

"Is that a no?" The blonde at the door asks, "Because I can't take your classes for you. Our majors are different."

"I'm coming." He finally builds the strength to stand and cross the room to grab his bag and scribble down the notes for today's workout. A continuous 2 mile jog to school, 5 pull-ups, and 3 sets of 30 push-ups and a final attempt ending with 33.

"You know, I read about this one guy who worked out so much that his heart exploded."

Rico gives him a concerned look, the most convincing one he can muster, "Nu-uh."

"Yes- huh." The blonde nods, "He worked out every day, all day and died of a heart attack at like 25."

"I'm not working out that much." He grabs a towel and wipes his face off, "Just once a day. Twice if I've had a bad day."

"Heart attack." Private sing-songs.

Rico rolls his eyes and changes shirts, "Better than drugs."

Private mocks him and starts for the door, "I don't want to be late for our first day."

"It's everyone's first day." Rico glances at his watch, "We won't be the only ones that are late."

Kowalski Lane has paced the floor between the computers and the doors, left to the dean's office, around the corner to the bathrooms and back to the computers. He was smart enough to know not to take 8 am classes, but at 7:45 he had arrived on campus. An hour had passed fast enough, but he still had 45 minutes before his next class. Finally, he settles down and picks up a magazine filled with careers.

He flips it open and searches through for his majors. Business, accounting, there were hundreds of careers within that bracket. One catches his eye. Private Investigator. He could do it. But what did business really have to do with that?

A voice catches his attention, a British accent and the blond boy attached to it. "Private?"

"Oh sweet balls." The kid following him tilts his head, black hair sliding across his head. "Kowalski?"

"Hey guys. Wow." He laughs kind of nervously, "What's it been, four years?"

"Five." Rico corrects, coldly. "I thought you went off to Yale or Harvard."

"Princeton. Actually." Kowalski closes the careers book and replaces it on the table. "I see you didn't?"

Rico shrugs, "Some of us weren't blessed with brains or brawn."

Rico leads Private past him and tries to leave Kowalski behind.

He glances around before following, "You don't want to catch up? You know, grab a cold one and kick it?"

Rico raises an eyebrow, "Does anyone say 'kick it' anymore?"

"I'd love to." Private grins, he elbows Rico, attempting to encourage him to agree.

He runs his fingers through his hair and drops a few strands to the ground, "I'd like to, but I distinctly remember you saying you 'didn't need this redneck town or this washed up football team'."

"Right." Kowalski looks down sheepishly, "Well, I-"

"Wasn't there also something about football scholarships not counting towards actual school?"

Kowalski sighs, "I'm sorry. Alright?"

Rico smiles, "Aww, I'm sorry too." The smile drops, "But I don't want to catch up." He turns and jogs down the stairs.

Private opens his mouth to apologize, shuts it and holds up his finger, "One minute please." He races after Rico and the distant arguing between the two can be heard echoing down the hall. Kowalski makes it halfway down the stairs before Private returns, "We'd like to catch up Kowalski."

"Great." He smiles, "Just tell me when and where."

"There's a party at one of the houses tonight." Rico adjusts his backpack on his shoulder, "If you decide to wimp out on us, at least there'll be free alcohol."

"Thanks. I know it's ha-"

Rico ignores him and continues on his way, heading for his first class.

"Right." Kowalski looks down. He hadn't planned on Rico and Private being here, but at least he had a friend some where on campus.

Rian glances over at the clock. Almost time to leave, she spots someone pass by the door window and has to do a double take. The tall kid with brown hair is so familiar it makes her heart ache. She turns her attention back to the board, where the professor is wrapping up what they will learn this semester. A name crosses her mind and she has to bite her tongue to keep from shouting it. 'Kowalski Lane.'


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on, Ri." A girl's voice travels through the bathroom. "Just because you say that it was this guy, doesn't mean it was."

"I'd know him anywhere." Rian calls from the bathroom, "And it's Kowalski Lane."

The blonde zeros in on the bathroom stall and kicks the door open, "I don't speak Polish."

Rian is sitting on the back of the toilet with her feet on the closed lid, a sketchbook in her lap. "Will you just go see if he's out there, Grace?"

The blonde scoffs and rolls her eyes, "You owe me. Party at the frat house. You're going." She turns and nudges the door open. She's being very obvious with her 'sneaking'. "No tall guys with brown hair here. Just an empty computer pit."

Rian glares at her, she jumps out of her position and shoves the blonde into the lobby, "Well go find him and come back." She pulls the door closed behind her.

Rian stands at the door, holding her phone in one hand and her sketchpad in the other. Summer was over and the book she had bought specifically for school only had three pages left. She glances down at it and slams it shut to cram it into her bag. If only she hadn't stayed up so late last night, she would have looked put together and not like she left her apartment without brushing her hair. Or teeth.

She stands back from the mirror and studies herself. She looked pretty awful. Baggy gray sweatpants and a huge black shirt that she didn't remember buying. Rian sighs and looks back at her phone. Her lock screen had been the logo for Brixton University, but she had changed it last night. A dark gray horse with wings and a boy with dark hair lying on the ground in front of it. Her face suddenly burns.

"Rian!" She jumps as her heart collides with her throat. Grace smiles, "Did I get you?"

"You're hilarious." Rian shoves her phone back into her back, "And?"

The blonde holds the door, "I didn't see any one. Do you have a recent picture or…?"

"No." Rian brushes past her, trying not to think too much about it. "It's been a long time. We went our separate ways and that's the end of it."

"Did you?" Grace keeps pace with her, "Because I know that look."

Rian scrunches her nose up, "What look? The look of: I left a small town behind to chase my dreams?"

Grace stops. She's not upset, but she is trying to figure out what to say. "How about breakfast? I'm starving and my classes don't start until noon."

Rian looks for the clock, it's almost 11. "I have thirty minutes."

"Then we'll grab a coffee and a bagel. Should keep it light for the party tonight anyway." Grace links arms with her and drags her along. She attempts to take Rian's mind off Kowalski by talking about the party and what she's wearing. They have their coffee before the conversation goes back to Rian.

"What are you wearing?"

Rian sighs, "Nothing."

"Ooo, my favorite thing on you. That'll cause quite the stir." Grace winks and smiles seductively.

"Nothing, because I'm not going." Rian shoves the bagel in her mouth before Grace can start an argument about it.

The blonde frowns, "Come on, Ri-Ri."

"Don't call me that." She rolls her gray eyes, "I've already got to start research for… stuff."

"Stuff?" Grace raises an eyebrow, "Stuff with your roommate?"

"No. It's not like that." Rian almost chokes on her second bite, "We are friends. Have been for a long time now."

She smiles mischievously, "That's what we call it now?"

Rian glares at her, "Not banging my roommate." She stands up to start the walk to her next class. It's not far to the building, but it is up three flights of stairs.

"Then who?" Grace bounces after her.

Rian shrugs, "No one."

Grace jumps in front of her, "Wait. Do you still-?" her eyes travel up and down her taller friend, "You know. Have you?"

Rian feels her face turn red, "What kind of question is that?"

"A good one, apparently." Grace smirks, "Come on. Just between us?"

She looks around, the only people near by is a teenager sitting on the steps staring at the pavement with a mortified expression and a man pushing a maintenance cart. She sighs, defeated. "In high school."

"Oh. My. Golly." Grace looks stunned at first and then has a realization, "That's why you hid from Stanislav!"

"Kowalski." Rian corrects, "And-"

It's too late, Grace is twirling away, singing a child's song.

"I'll see you later then?" Rian sighs and heads up the stairs and into the building, stopping to take a break before climbing three flights of stairs to her psychology class.

It's 7:30 when there's a knock on the door. Rian covers her sketch with a piece of scrap paper before answering to Grace, leaning seductively against the door frame, "I'm early." She winks, "What would you like to do?"

Her hair is rolled into a bun on top of her head. Her dress red and is as close to skin tight as it possibly can be without cutting off circulation.

"You are ridiculous." Rian states, "I'm not going."

Grace scoffs and barges in, "Rian Delmar, you were no fun in high school and now you're going to wuss out of the first party of the year."

"Emphasis on first." Rian puts her hands on her hips, "There will be others."

"Please?" Grace bats her eyes, "Ten minutes. 5 drinks."

"One drink." Rian suggests.

"Ten minutes OR two drinks. Whichever comes first."

Rian sighs. Grace won't give up without her going. "Fine. Shots count as drinks." She marches into her room and throws open her closet.

"You should wear that one." Grace says when Rian touches a blue dress, "Yeah, it looks like something that would be a school uniform in Japan. Men love that."

Rian rolls her eyes, "You would probably prefer that I wear a towel."

"Do you have one?"

She glares over at her and picks a dark green, spaghetti strap a-line. "I'm wearing this, get over it."

"But your hips."

"What about my hips?" Rian frowns.

Grace shakes her head, "Nothing. Put it on before we are late for being early."

Rian walks with her to the frat house. It's already packed and they can feel the bass from a block away. They weave their way through the house and into the massive backyard, where most of the partying is happening. Grace abandons Rian on the premise of getting them drinks. She disappears into the crowd.

When Rian realizes she isn't coming back, the ten minutes are already up. She starts through the crowd searching for Grace. She spots a familiar face in the crowd and asks if she's seen Grace. The girl nods and leans close, still having to shout over the music.

"She was at the bar, tongue deep in a guy that was buying her drinks."

"Fabulous." Rian starts for the bar.

"Do you see him?" Rico hands Private a beer.

The blonde shakes his head, "Maybe he had homework."

"Or he chickened out." Rico throws the beer back, finishing it quickly so he can leave. "Come on, are you about ready?"

"What?"

"I said are you-"

"Hey guys." Kowalski trips over to them, "Have you ever had a jello shot?"

Rico sighs and rubs his forehead, "How many did you do?"

"Well, let's just say, I hit double digits before anyone else." He smiles triumphantly.

"What's a Jello shot?" Private asks.

"Heaven, Percy. Heaven." Kowalski slurs through his words, "Whoever came up with them is a magical wizard of the alcoholic world."

Rico growls and grabs the kid by the back of his shirt, dragging him through the crowd. "Let's get you home and in bed."

"But I'm having a great time. You guys should too." Kowalski twists free and vanishes into the crowd of people.

"No, Kowalski, get back here." Rico tries to dart after him, running straight into someone.

He instinctively grabs the person's arm before they fall into the pool, "Sorry. Drunk friend."

"It's alright, I'm chasing one too." _That voice._ He releases her out of shock.

Rian crashes into the pool. Cold water rushing around her. It knocks her breath away. A second splash and someone drags her to the surface.

"Rian?"

She wipes water out of her eyes and stares at the kid who had caught her and then dropped her. "Rico."

"Hey, it's uhm. It's been awhile."

"Alright! Party in 'da pool!" one person jumps in, followed by 19 more.

Rico pushes her towards the edge, "You should probably find your friend."

"Yeah." She says quietly, "You too."

She climbs out of the pool just as the beach ball is broken out. Rico, close behind her. "If you see Kowalski,-"

A deafening beating sound begins and a bright light shines down on the party.


	3. Chapter 3

**Adrian's Note: Yes, I am back. Seeing the amazing reactions and outpour of support, I am definitely sorry I ever left. I had forgotten how great the community here, I've missed you all so much! I'm on such a nostalgia high right now, that who knows? Maybe there will be more new stories to come? ;)**

A deafening beating sound begins and a bright light shines down on the party.

"It's the blues!" Someone shouts.

People scatter. Rico grabs Rian's arm and pulls her to the privacy fence. She's up and over it in a matter of seconds. Rico pauses on top to look back for Private or Kowalski. Seeing neither, he drops after Rian.

"Let's get out of here." He whispers, taking her hand and leading her along the narrow street between backyards.

"Where's your place?" He asks, keeping his voice down.

"The apartments next to the dorms."

He looks around. They are heading the wrong way. But the other end of the street is blocked off. "Guess we're taking the long way around."

Rian glances down and blushes, "Are you going to let go of my hand?"

He drops it quickly, "Sorry." He keeps walking. Keeping his head low and acting natural. They round the corner, turning right. They are almost two blocks from the party now.

"So, I'm saving you from Private when I ask," he glances at his watch, "Where did you go?"

Rian bites her lip. She knew it was coming. "California. Rider wanted to go to school."

"And you just had to go?"

"When you say it that way," she shakes her head, "I was accepted to an art school. I would get to have my pick of colleges."

"Ahh. Ever the studious one." Rico elbows her. "I forgot how much of a nerd you were."

Rian tilts her head to one side. "Studious is a big word for you. Kowalski teach you that one?"

He laughs nervously, "Well, no. Not really."

Rian frowns. He is keeping some kind of secret. "What's up?"

"I just… hadn't seen Kowalski in a few years until this morning."

"What do you mean?" Rian asks. The four guys were getting close when she left. Had they stopped talking after she flew west?

Rico sighs. "It's kind of a long story. Maybe we should get coffee to prepare."

She nods and they cut across a parking lot to a fast food joint. They sit at a high topped table in the corner. Outside of the window they can see the red and blue lights in the distance.

"Jackson High never really got over homecoming 2012, when we played them our senior year, they took a cheap shot. It landed Kowalski in the hospital. While he was in there, he had a revelation of sorts," Rico turns in a circle, emphasizing revelation. "He turned into an even bigger nerd. He quit football completely, without warning. When we tried to talk to him…" Rico kicks the center pole of the table, "He freaked. Said that he was going to Harvard or Yale. Where ever you nerds go these days. It pissed Skipper off."

"Understandably." Rian stabs at the whipped cream on her latte.

"Yeah. But now he's back in Kentucky." Rico takes a small drink of his coffee, "I guess he found what he was looking for."

Rian forces a smile, "Maybe he's got it figured out now."

"Got what figured out?"

"Sometimes, the best education money can buy, doesn't mean anything if you are at the top alone."

Rico looks back down at the table, "Coming from you, that's pretty sound advice."

Rian decides to change the subject. "What about you? How's your family?"

"Mom and Reggie got married last spring." He ruffles his hair. It's starting to dry. "Reggie's been… tolerable. Dad still isn't around, but who cares."

"That's a change." Rico always hated his mothers boyfriend. His dad was a former horse jockey and ran out when Rico was 8. They had talked about him once and it had led to Rico running off for a few hours.

"Yeah," Rico runs his hand through his hair again, trying to smooth it out. "I woke up one day and just thought: 'if he doesn't want to be a parent, I shouldn't try to force him'."

"That's…" she hesitates, "actually pretty smart."

He looks out the window. Red and blue still flashing in the night sky. "We should get you home."

Rian nods and follows him out.

The brick building towers over most other around it. 5 floors of apartments and the 4 story dorm room right next to it for a grand total of 360 rooms.

"Well, this is my stop." Rian smiles, "it was great to see you again, Rico."

He nods, "Yeah. Maybe when I start to fail criminal psych, you'll bail me out."

She laughs. "Don't hold your breath on that one. I'm an art major. Not a miracle worker."

"Guys. Psst."

Rico looks around. The street is empty except for a small group walking home from night class.

"Psst. Rico." A crashing sound tears through the hedge that divides the dorms and the apartments.

"Kowalski?" They both jump.

The tall, very drunk, student stands up, "Hey, the cops showed up."

"How did you get out?" Rico asks, looking over the disheveled genius.

"Out of what?"

Rico rolls his eyes, "I'm gonna get him to bed. Have a good night Rian."

"Goodnight, Rian." Kowalski waves.

She leans against the wall, watching Rico try to drag his friend quietly up the stairs to the dorms. Have you ever had a friend that won't be quiet, no matter what? When you try to cover their mouth with you hand, they either scream as loudly as they can or lick you? Kowalski is that friend.

Rian waits for the elevator, wishing she had brought her phone to the party. She wants to reconnect with Rico. Maybe even see what Marlene has been up too.

She sings along to the song in the elevator. Twirls down the hallway and unlocks her room. She slips out of her shoes and slides a pair of sweatpants on under her dress. She's making a bowl of cereal when her phone alerts.

'Rico Schmidt wants to be friends'

She accepts and waits before messaging him. She doesn't want to seem desperate. Rian drops over the couch and grabs the remote, settling into a streaming marathon.

Her roommate's door opens and closes. Rian sits up to greet him. She surprised to see Grace. Her hair is down and her high heels are in her left hand. She stops and they look at each other. Before Rian can question it, Grace smiles. "You should watch Orange is the New Black." Then, the blonde slips out the door.

Rian is still surprised and a little disgusted. She moves to her room and watches television there. A message ding.

Rico: Don't tell me that you're going to binge watch Hoarders.

She glances at the tv and around the room. How did he-

Rico: At least watch something good. Something with food or violence.

Rian: That's way creepy, dude.

She's still looking around when her eyes stop on the window and the open blinds. Rico waves from across the alley.

Rian: still creepy.

Rico looks around before responding: I've got a sombrero and a hockey mask, if that will help.

She frowns and looks up. He's gone from the window and she's afraid he's gone to get it when he returns with a bag of cheesy poofs.

Rian: do I want to know why you have a hockey mask?

Rico: Graduation trip. Cheesy poof? I bet I could throw it through your window.

She smiles at the phone and slowly responds: I've got cereal. Thanks though. I've got to get some sleep before early class tomorrow. Night.

Rico: Yeah, I think Kowalski passed out in the shower. I'm gonna leave that for Private to deal with.

She's still laughing when she watches his light go out across the alley.


	4. Chapter 4

**Adrian's Note: I'm so sorry about the delay between these chapters. Life is crazy for me right now. I just finished my second full length novel, I'm pushing close to 100,000 words between all of my projects in 2017 alone. I am STILL waiting to hear back from the copyright office but if you want more info on all of that, check out my page and follow the links to my other junk. 3**

Skipper glances away from Madalyn when his phone rings. They are the only ones in the park this morning. She's going down the slide for the hundredth time.

"Skipper?" the voice on the other end is a man's. "This is Coach Jordan at the Brixton University."

"Uhm, hi. How are you?" Madalyn climbs a rope net and hangs upside down.

The coach laughs, "Well, I was hoping you might have some good news for me."

Skipper sighs, "I honestly haven't thought too much about it. I'm going to stand by my first answer. I'm way too busy to help out. Madalyn is three and Marlene is working full time, I just can't feasibly drop everything to coach a team."

Madalyn flips off the rope and runs over to him, crawling onto the bench next to her dad.

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to reach me. You should swing by the office sometime. For old time's sake."

"I'll do that. Thank you, Coach." He hangs up before the coach can say much else.

"Who was that?" Madalyn asks, looking up at Skipper with her big hazel eyes.

"Coach Jordan." Skipper responds, "He wants me to help him coach at the college."

"I thought you liked football?" she wrinkles her nose.

Skipper nods, "Yeah, but we have stuff to do."

"Football is all the time?"

He laughs at her, "No, games would mostly be on Fridays, but it would take up a lot of my time with you."

She frowns, "Can we get lunch?"

"What do you want?"

"Hmmm…. Cheeseburgers."

He laughs again, "You are my child. Come on."

Skipper drives to a small restaurant between their house and campus. They take a booth in the corner. Madalyn is coloring on a piece of paper, so Skipper texts Marlene.

Skipper: Jordan called today.

Madalyn puts down the green crayon. "Daddy, there's not a brown."

"Use red and yellow."

"Hi, my name is-" Their waitress stops, "Skipper?"

He looks up to see a girl with dark brown hair. She's thin and taller than Marlene. "You don't recognize me." She smirks, "Rian Delmar."

When she says the name, it clicks. A smart girl with a knack for art and running from problems. "Rian. Wow. Long time. How are you?"

"I'm good," she looks over Madalyn, "Is this-"

"I'm Madalyn DiMaggio. I'm three." She smiles up at their waitress.

Rian raises an eyebrow, "Is your mom Marlene?"

She nods, "Yep. Mommy's at work."

She finishes taking their order and puts the slip of paper in a window, leading to the kitchen. A man with greasy gray hair snatches it. Rian returns with their drinks and pulls a chair to the end of their booth, "It's funny, you'll never guess who I saw last night."

He shakes his head, "Mr. Powers?"

She laughs, "No, but I would like to. Rico Schmidt and Kowalski Lane."

Skipper chuckles, quietly taking a sip of his coffee, "I guess the big city wasn't all it was cut out to be."

"Oh." Rian is suddenly aware that she has brought up a painful memory for him. "Rico told what happened. I guess I just didn't think about it."

He smirks, "It's alright. I'm over it." He thinks for a minute before continuing, "If nothing else, him coming back here proves me right."

She shrugs, "That's one way to look at it." The bell in the window dings and Rian retrieves their lunch, "Are you going to ever put that scholarship to use?"

"How did you know about that?"

She grins, "Just because I wasn't here, don't think I didn't read. Lea sent me newspaper clippings."

"No, I didn't. Marlene got her journalism degree though."

Rian smiles, "That's great. I wasn't sure if you were playing football at Brixton, I know their team isn't great."

"Try lowest ranked in the state." He laughs, "Or so I've heard."

Rian laughs, "Hey, I've gotta go get things ready for the next shift, but you guys should look me up sometime. I'd like to catch up."

She leaves. And for some reason, Skipper feels like part of him that was in a comatose state has woken up and jumped around before falling asleep again.

"Daddy, who's that?"

"Her name is Rian." He explains, "She used to be friends with your mom and I when we were kids."

"Okay." She eats a handful of potato chips at one time, "Daddy, what's a skall-ship?"

"A _Scholarship_ is what you get when you are so good at something and they pay for you to go to school for it."

"Like football?"

He nods, "Exactly."

She frowns and finishes her meal in silence. While he's buttoning her coat, she looks up at him, "I think we should teach football. You and me."

"Really?"

She nods eagerly, "Yeah. We could teach football to your friends."

"It's not that easy, Maddy," he sighs, "I'm happy taking care of you."

She scrunches her nose up, "That's not your happy face."

He ruffles her hair, "Mom's gonna be home soon. C'mon kiddo."

Rian ignores the third call from Grace. She hasn't talked to her since last night when she caught her sneaking out of her roommate's room. There is an unspoken rule about friends and roommates being off-limits. Grace had crossed that line, but so had he. She wasn't in the mood to talk to either of them.

She changes out of her work uniform in the school bathroom and heads off to a late biology class. This class will let out just in time for her to go get dinner and get started on a reading assignment before psychology in this same building.

Rian opens the door and glances around for a table. In the back of the room, the center row, sits a blonde kid. She feels bad that she notices Percival before Rico, but the latter appears to be asleep on the table. Rian drops her book beside him and he sits up quickly.

"What the- Rian." His anger subsides when he sees who pulled him from slumber.

"Did someone have a long night?" she smirks.

He rolls his eyes, "Kowalski was asleep in our bathtub when I left this morning."

She winces, "That's pretty bad."

"Considering he was on the couch when I got home at 4," Private mumbles, "I'm a little impressed."

"Thanks for getting me out of there." Rian nudges Rico, "I can't tarnish my reputation."

"You said she helped you." Private glares at his friend, "You left me behind."

Rico shrugs, "It's hard to say guys. I don't remember who left who."

Rian smiles. She feels like the piece of her that's been missing for the last few months has been found.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow. I haven't updated and I have a perfectly valid excuse. I am publishing my first book. I am right in the middle of it all and slowly losing my grip on everything around me. NaNoWriMo is coming up, all of my prep is done and I can't wait. Enough about Adrian's personal schiz, on to the story!**

Rian drops her bag onto the couch, scrolling through the seemingly endless assignments. She had taken the initiative to put her syllabi in her phone's calendar, now it seemed like every ten minutes it was another notification from another class.

She picks a rock song and fixes a cup of coffee, mid-terms are coming up and she's got to be ready. Humming along, she scatters three stacks of books across the table. "Pick one and start." She sighs. Her eyes stop on her biology book. "Science it is."

A deafeningly loud blend of screaming music and crashing drums over powers her phone's speaker. He's up. Rian has taken great care in avoiding her roommate for the last few weeks. He took lots of night classes, studying to be a doctor. She hadn't caught Grace sneaking out in the mornings, but she had over-heard a skype call three nights ago that had made her nauseous.

She pours a cup of coffee and adds sugar. She flings the silverware drawer open. No spoons. She grabs a butter knife and plops it into her cup. As Rian turns back to her stack of books, she finds her roommate standing in the doorway.

"Are we going to talk?" He leans against the doorframe.

"About?" She raises an eyebrow.

His brown eyes flick to her coffee cup, "Is that a knife?"

When she doesn't respond, he backs away, "You know, I was more prepared for this when I thought you were unarmed, maybe I'll just come back later."

She sighs and tosses the knife into the sinkful of dishes, watching it bounce off a pan and clatter to the floor. "Unarmed," she states.

"I've seen you out with- what's his name- Rr… Rito,,,, RICO!" He exclaims, proud of himself for getting the name.

She nods slowly, "And I saw Grace sneaking out of your room the other night."

He tilts his head, "Grace? Is that her name?"

Rian glares at him. Did he really forget her name? Anthony had his moments, but he usually remembered the names of his latest trick. His smirk gives him away.

"If I knew she was your friend I wouldn't have-" he cuts himself off, "Well, you know."

"You defiled my safe space with your," she searches for a word, "manbilities."

"Manbilities," he repeats, "I like that one."

She rolls her eyes and brushes past him, sitting at the table with her books, "Don't you have doctor things to be doing?"

"Don't you have art things to be doing?" He mocks her, "If you must know, I took midterms early."

Stupid Anthony and his stupid brilliance. "Where does that put you?" He had taken summer classes and was way ahead of where other students in his age bracket were.

He thinks for a second and shrugs, "Almost done, I think, but I've got to meet with the dean this week sometime."

A thought jumps to the front of her mind, "Do you remember Kowalski Lane?"

Tony pauses and considers it, turning the name over and over in his mind, "Tall kid, glasses. Really big nerd. The bad kid of nerd. The nerd that nerds like me put in lockers?"

She nods.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He went to Yale. Or Harvard. Or something." She opens her biology book and begins flipping through her notes.

"Really?" he puts his hand over her book, "That one made it?"

She nods again and brushes his hand away, "Yeah, I talked to him the other day. He's here for theoretical physics." Now that she thinks about it, that might not be his major, "Or something."

Anthony frowns, and takes the entire pot of coffee. He flips the lid open and takes a sip. Rian frowns. Has he really not used a coffee cup? Tony is still considering her revelation when he leaves the kitchen, taking the pot with him. "Oh, and by the way," he pokes his head back out of his room, "The chemical equation for adrenaline is wrong."

She glares at him and back to her notes. He's right.

Skipper knocks hesitantly on the door. Coach Jordan calls for him to come in and looks over his thick glasses to Skipper and Madalyn. "Skipper DiMaggio. Never thought I'd see you here."

Skipper sits down across from him, "It's about the job."

Jordan raises his eyebrows, "Today is full of surprises."

Skipper nods hesitantly, "If you need a coach that badly, I'm in."

Jordan smiles, "That's fantastic,"

Madalyn is looking over the dusty trophy cabinet. Watching her reflection change in each style of trophy. She stops in front of a picture of a group of people. "Daddy, it's you." She points to it.

Jordan hands Skipper a stack of papers, before crossing to his daughter and pulling the picture out of the cabinet for her to see.

"Who are they?" she asks.

Coach scans the picture, pointing out people, "Kowalski Lane, running back, Percival 'Private', your dad was Quarter back and team Captain. Your mom was a cheerleader, Rian Delmar what we called an extra, and Rico Schmidt, one of the best kickers I've ever seen. 2012 West Cove High Football."

She frowns, "Daddy, why don't they see you? They are your friends."

"People change, Maddie," he sighs. A harsh truth that his daughter will learn one day. He wished he had learned it earlier in life. "They change and there's no going back after that."

"You changed?"

He hesitates. No. Life had changed around him and he had adapted to it. So, yes. "I suppose so," he turns back to Coach, "How's the team look this year?"

Jordan laughs, "Well, half of them walked out. Half of what remains can play football and the other half may not speak English, let alone know which direction our goal is in."

"Oh." Skipper tries to hide his disappointment. He had hoped that they had something to work with.

"Our only chance of having a decent team is open tryouts." Jordan puts his head down in his hands, "Open tryouts and a miracle."

Skipper leads Madalyn out of the office after they finish their conversation. Across the room, he spots Rian. She waives, he returns the gesture and continues on his way. As they round a corner, Skipper runs straight into someone.

"Sorry." The kid mumbles, flicking his eyes up.

They stare at each other in confusion. Rico hasn't changed much in the years since they graduated. Private might have gotten taller, but it isn't likely. Kowalski has stopped wearing glasses, switching to contacts.

Skipper looks between the three of them and pulls Madalyn a little, "C'mon kiddo. Mom's waiting."

Rico watches Skipper lead the little girl towards a car. She looks like him, but her brown hair isn't his.

Private pipes up, "She's adorable. I knew Marlene would make beautiful babies."

"But why is he here?" Rico tilts his head.

Kowalski shrugs, "Maybe he's visiting someone."

"There you are." Rian stops next to them, "Did you see Skipper? He's taking a job here."

"You knew he was in town?" Rico asks her, "You didn't tell us?"

She shrugs, "It's a new development. I just saw him the other day."

Rico frowns. He had hoped she would come straight to him with anything like this. Oh well. Maybe Rian hadn't changed that much either.


	6. Chapter 6

**I am so sorry for the huge delay in chapters. I just launched my first novel this morning. It is avalible on Google Play as an ebook. Message me for more details, I will try my hardest to get back to you in a timely manner!**

Rian stares at the box of colored pencils. "Come on Ri," she sighs, "Draw something. Anything."

"Bad day?"

She jumps and smacks her knee into the under side of the desk. Numbness shoots down her shin and into her right foot. "Rico."

He smiles, "Fire escapes. Who knew?"

"You know they are for emergencies only, right?" she rubs the top of her leg.

"I found out why Skipper was here."

She pushes away from the desk, "Yeah?"

"Yep," he climbs through the window and plops down of her bed. His phone rings again and he turns it around to show her.

"Is that him?"

Rico nods and ignores the call. 7 missed calls.

"He keeps calling you. What does he want?"

Rico jumps onto the bed. He uses it as a stage for dramatically acting out his word. "To get the team back together and win the rose bowl or the championship belt or something like that." He waves the last few words away, "He can't honestly think that we would ever work well together again."

Rian shrugs, "You might just have to show him. He never really took 'no' as an answer."

"No," Rico drops to the bed, "But it seems to be his favorite to give."

"I am trying to sleep," a voice shouts from the other room, "I thought art majors were supposed to be quiet."

Rico frowns at the wall and Rian sticks her tongue out at it. "You know Skipper." She tries to keep her voice lower.

"And you know me," Rico's blue eyes turn fierce, "I'm not going to trust any of them as far as I could throw them."

"What about Private? He's your roommate. If he went, would you?"

Rico shrugs, "I dunno. I'm mad that Kowalski left and then decided he could come back and everything would be hunky-doorie and we could all hold hands and sing koombiyah." He sits in the window sill, staring out over the alley.

"It can't?"

"No, Rian," Rico looks away, "It can't."

Rian nods and picks up her sketch pencil, "Then don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't go," she starts a rough sketch. "No one can force you to be something that you don't want to be."

Rico frowns, "You're right."

"Women are always right," the voice calls again. They've kept Anthony awake.

Rian smiles, "But I have this feeling that you wouldn't have come here if it weren't bothering you."

Rico looks over her again, "Kowalski made Private cry. Forgive me for not being the first to jump on that wagon."

Rian holds his eyes for a minute, "Well wouldn't you like to hit him once?"

Rico looks down as his phone rings again.

Rian sits down in the stands to watch the tryouts. She picks Rico's thick black hair out of the dozens of other men. Private is close beside him and Kowalski is on the other side. Rian sighs and rolls her eyes. They really weren't going to let this go.

"Rian?"

She looks up at the sound of a female voice. Marlene, with her chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes smiles at her, "Wow, Skipper said he had seen you but I didn't think you would be here."

"Rico is trying out. Persistence is key."

"Let me guess," Marlene laughs.

"Someone has to break up the fight." They say in unison.

Both girls laugh, "It's going to be interesting, nonetheless." Marlene sits down beside Rian, "Skipper has Madalyn on the field."

"She's adorable," Rian tries to make conversation, "A sweetheart, really."

"She's got my looks but her dad's attitude."

Skipper divides the team right down the center. The plan is to run a few plays and then go from there.

Rian watches closely as Rico searches for Kowalski. The ball snaps and Rico is gone. He jumps over the pile of players and slams into a player in a plain white jersey. He somersaults up and takes his helmet off.

Rian can see Skipper and the sidelined players wince.

Madalyn cringes too, "Daddy, that guy got sacked."

"You okay, Kowalski?" Skipper calls.

Rico had found his target in all of the chaos.


	7. Chapter 7

**Guys, I was going to have some excuse for this, I swear, but I really don't. I am very sorry for my divided attention. I've published two books this year, it's been insane. I'm moving in the next week. Launching another book in December, writing a fourth book as part of NaNoWriMo. If you are taking part, feel free to add me there: Adr62395ian. Again, I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to get to this story. Okay, on with the fluff! Love Adrian Tillling**

"Hold still," Rian says.

Madalyn freezes, still kicking her legs slightly.

"Thanks for doing this on such short notice, Ri." Marlene sighs, apologetically.

"No problem," Rian dips the brush back into the paint, "I've always wanted to make a Vampiric Princess."

Madalyn bounces off the seat and races to the mirror. She studies her full-length black gown, stereotypical Vampire cape with it's high black collar. "You did good." She runs back into the kitchen and hugs Rian around the leg, "Thank you!"

"Are you going to change before the game?" Marlene asks Rian.

She shakes her head, "Not much of a point. The boys will all be sweaty and gross afterwards. Besides, we're a little old for trick-or-treating."

"But there is a party," Marlene smiles, cramming a blanket in her bag. "And Madalyn is going home with Skipper's dad. I've got to be at work super early and Skip probably wants to sleep."

"I have to see Pops?" Madalyn frowns up at Marlene. "But all he wants to do is fish."

"Well it's too cold for fishing now," Marlene holds up a pink camo backpack, "He says he wants to take you to the mall tomorrow."

She holds her frown.

Marlene sighs in defeat, "Okay, fine. You can go to the shooting range."

Marlene's disappointment is drowned out by her daughter bouncing around chanting, "Yay. Yay. Yay. Yay."

"She takes after her dad." Marlene pulls her braid over her shoulder, "Don't have children. Ever."

Rian laughs and glances at her phone. No messages. Rico and the boys had been at the field since noon. It had taken a week, but Skipper had finally talked them all into getting along and coming back. Rico had agreed to one season.

Their first two games hadn't gone well. The boys came back to the dorms, beaten, bruised and defeated. Kowalski and Rico avoided each other like the plague. They sat on opposite sides of the bench, drove to games separately, Rico isolated himself in the back corner of the locker room.

Clearly, beating the ever-loving crap out of each other in practice wasn't doing anything for them.

Marlene leads the way into the stadium, down to the first level and into a VIP section. Where a man with short black hair is waiting. Skipper's dad. Rian can see that good looks run in the family. Madalyn sits beside her Grandpa and points to the players on the roster. She knows the rules of the game, the starting line-up and the strengths of each player.

Rian pulls out her phone and quickly texts Rico: Good Luck Tonight

She leaves it in her lap and continues her conversation with Marlene about work. Marlene was a journalist for a big magazine. She had interviews with all kinds of up and coming entrepreneurs. Mostly women. She enjoyed her job, despite not having much experience with it before.

Rian's phone buzzes. Rico: Do you want to do something tonight? After the game?

Rian tries her hardest to be subtle, but Marlene spots the message and shakes her, excitedly. "Yes! Tell him yes!"

"Marlene, it's not that-"

"If you say no and break his heart before this game, I'm going to be disappointed in you." She stands up, waving to a short woman with silvery hair, bundled up like she's climbing a mountain. "Rian, do something for you."

Rian frowns at the message before responding, 'What do you have in mind?'

Rian is only half paying attention to the game. They are doing well, but Skipper's mother is excitable and eager to impress her son's friends.

Rian picks out Grace in the crowd. She's three sections over and in the last row. She greets a man in a black sweater. Rian almost doesn't recognize Tony outside of his room. He isn't wearing sweatpants for once. She turns her attention back to the game. She makes a mental note to interrogate the two on them later.

Clearly their one-night stand was something more than that.

Kowalski is readying himself for a field goal. Rian doesn't see it happen, but in a flash of black and gold, Kowalski hits the ground.

Kowalski hits the ground hard. The crowd barely has time to gasp before one of his teammates grabs the player that tackled him, 27, and rips him away. Skipper's dad stands up, Maddy climbing into the seat to see better.

Referees are blowing their whistles. The other teams players rush in to attempt to pull him off. Rian spots the number when a helmet flies through the air. 13.

"Was that-"

"Darn it, Rico." Madalyn kicks at the air in frustration, "You are a good player if you control your temper."

Skipper's dad laughs.

Rico is escorted off the field. Kowalski staring up in confusion and what could be pain. When Rico makes it to the sideline, Skipper stops him, "Do I want to know?"

Rico shrugs, "Kowalski's smaller than that guy. It was a cheap shot. He's been talking crap all night." He rattles off a bunch of excuses.

Skipper doesn't buy any of them. "Oh really?"

"Yeah," Rico tilts his head, pulling off his helmet, "No one's going to break his legs but me."

He retreats to the bench and sits down. He's watching Coach Jordan and Skipper conversating and gesturing to him. He's going to be suspended for a few games. At least a few.

Private sits down beside him, "That was pretty cool of you."

Rico glances over at him. The kid is grinning brightly. He rolls his eyes, "I should have hit him harder."

"Unsportsmanlike conduct, blah blah blah," Rico reads off the text message, "Three game suspension, laps forever, you get the idea." He tosses his phone down on the couch and yawns.

Rian fights against a smile. "You do care."

He leans closer to her, narrowing his eyes, "I don't think I do."

She shrugs, "If you say so." She continues sketching.

Rico continues through the limited selection of horror movies and finally settles on something from the early 80s.

The lock on the door turns and Tony stops as soon as it opens. He looks between the two of them. "Oh. Uhm. Shoot. I totally forgot my laptop. In the Library." He snaps and backs out of the room, closing the door.

"Did he just finger gun us?" Rico asks, raising an eyebrow.

Rian sighs, "Yep."

They fall into a comfortable silence. Sitting beside each other. Quiet. Calm.

Rian hesitantly scoots closer to Rico and lays her head against his shoulder. It's another five minutes before Rico puts his hand on the small space between them. Subtly reaching her hers. Rian stares at it. Weighing her options. She laces her fingers through his. Tracing her thumb over the scars on his knuckles.


End file.
